Nigerian Court Rules Against Statoil on Agbami Field

Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- A Nigerian court upheld a claim by a
former adviser of Statoil ASA that he was entitled to 1.5
percent of the profit from its interest in the West African
nation’s Agbami offshore oil field.

John Abebe, the former adviser, claimed Statoil agreed to
pay him that share of the profit from its 18.9 percent stake in
the field for helping the company expand in Nigeria in the
1990s. Judge Charles Archibong of the Federal High Court in
Lagos ruled today that the payment be made subject to “proper
accounting” by court-appointed accountants.

Abebe “was crucial” to the oil concession granted Statoil
by the government, Archibong said. The “concessions could not
have been granted without a local collaborator who should be a
part owner under the public policy framework.”

“Statoil disagrees with today’s ruling and will exercise
its right to appeal,” Baard Glad Pedersen, a spokesman at
Stavanger, Norway-based Statoil, said in an e-mailed statement.
“Statoil remains confident that it is in a strong legal
position to reject all claims put forward by Mr. Abebe.”

The Chevron Corp.-operated Agbami field started output in
2008 and last year reached 250,000 barrels of oil equivalent a
day, giving Statoil about 44,000 barrels a day. The field has
reserves of about 900 million barrels of oil equivalent,
according to Statoil.

Statoil is operator of two deepwater exploration licenses
in Nigeria and has shares in two others, operated by Petroleo
Brasileiro SA and Ocean Energy Inc.

Abebe became involved with Statoil when the company entered
an alliance with BP Plc in Nigeria in the early 1990s, then
Statoil spokesman Kai Nielsen said on Feb. 26. Abebe, whose
brother-in-law Olusegun Obasanjo was head of state in 1976-1979
and 1999-2007, worked as a consultant for BP and later joined
Statoil Nigeria’s board, he said.